#1 is not morning glory. Some kind of composite, if it's in garden maybe Black Eyed Susan. If it's in the woods, might be White Wood Aster, Aster divaricatus (now called Eurybia divaricata). Or Echinacea? Something along those lines, anyway. #2 is Wineberry, Rubus phoenicolasius. A non-native blackberry relative, considered a weed, although I find it sort of attractive. You can eat the yellow berries, although they're a little bland. #3 is Barberry, Berberis thunbergii. Also a weed, although one that has been planted as an ornamental a lot. I don't recognize the bush. Tree 2 might be Mountain Laurel, but I'm not sure. WW

*happy dance* That's it! Many, many thanks saltcedar! The pictures match exactly and upon further Google searching of Barbarea vulgaris I found even more crystal clear images matching mine. Woohoo! Now, on a sad note, the reading suggests it's a "weed" so I'm not sure what to do. I've found some of the prettiest flowers are considered weeds. Like I said this grows on the side of the house I didn't think would be able to produce colorful plants (other than green), which is why I'm hesitant to cut this one down. I'm gonna leave it. I have nothing else growing (aside from grass) on that side of the house so I'll just see what happens. I'll be on again in the next few days to post some pics of two unidentified bushes (that have thorns but no blooms for two seasons) that are driving me bonkers not knowing what the hay they are.

Oh boy!! Well, at this point I'm concentrating mainly on getting the garlic mustard out and only pulling others when they're right in with the GM. Hopefully the 2nd isn't as prolific as the GM, or I'll be in another world of hurt next year! I'm still dealing with the remnants of Jerusalem artichoke as well! Yeesh! OH BTW - could #1 maybe be an Actaea? I'm really hoping not to have to pull it - I've got a bit of it in there and it's actually kind of pretty in a group - I'm gonna keep an eye on it, and see if it blooms and what they look like.

I´m not sure whether your plan is feasible, since planting something virtually maintenance free and able to choke down weeds is quite difficult to achieve. One option for you, and since this is a school, is to use it as an opportunity to teach the kids something. Maybe what you could do was: 1 - Remove any plants planted that you want to keep 2 - Lay down lots of newspaper and cardboard and build a type of lasagna garden bed. There is a forum specifically for this method and there is also an interesting discussion of it in the cottage gardens forum. The kids could bring the newspaper and cardboard from home and help build the layers. This would also offer the biology teachers the chance to teach them a bit how Mother Nature works. 3 - Once the bed is ready, replant the plants you saved and add other easy care ones. Options for your warm climate are succulents, cacti and ornamental grasses. Maybe each kid could donate a plant (don´t know how many kids there are in the school and the size of the beds), according to the directives you set. This wouldn´t cost much for the families but would give the kids a sense of ownership they will lack if you just get the plants from a garden centre. They will then be able to track the progress of his/her own plant, as well as the others. 4 - Prepare to have at least minimum care during the Summer holidays, otherwise this would just be a waste a time. Isn´t there a janitor or security officer who might be able to water? If this is not the case, consider investing in a watering system which can be operated by a small programmable computer. If you use easy care plants like I mentioned above you should be able to get away with it for a couple of months without much care anyway. I don´t know if I´ve helped, but this is how I would approach the project, if it was mine. Eduarda